{"id":284107,"date":"2026-05-08T08:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/284107\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T08:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:03:12","slug":"how-refunds-work-and-how-to-check-your-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/284107\/","title":{"rendered":"How refunds work and how to check your address"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are answering your questions about the KPRC 2 Investigation<\/a> on Houston Public Works installing the wrong water meter equipment at hundreds of addresses. This could be the reason many of you are dealing with high, unexplained water bills. <\/p>\n

KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis is answering your questions, including whether customers can request cash refunds instead of bill credits, whether bad meters were installed at apartment buildings, and whether the city could reimburse customers who paid for plumbing inspections.<\/p>\n

Related: Full investigation: Houston water customers billed for water they never used after wrong meters installed.<\/a><\/p>\n

Q: \u201cWhy a credit? Send me the money.\u201d Can I request a refund instead of a credit on my Houston water bill?<\/p>\n

A: In some cases, yes.<\/p>\n

According to the City of Houston Code of Ordinances, if the water department makes a billing error, it must correct the bill once the incorrect billing is discovered. If the incorrect billing is an overcharge that is more than six times the customer\u2019s average bill, the department must refund the overcharge at the customer\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

New high-tech water meters on the way for some Houston water customers. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The ordinance also says that even if the overcharge is not more than six times the customer\u2019s average bill, the department shall refund the overcharge if the customer can show \u201cextreme economic hardship\u201d to the utility official.<\/p>\n

If the overcharge is not refunded, the ordinance says the department shall apply the amount as a credit to the customer\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

Source: City of Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 47, Article II, Division 1, Sec. 47-65 (Billing errors \u2014 In general)<\/a><\/p>\n

Houston Public Works accidentally installed the wrong meters at hundreds of homes. The faulty equipment led to inaccurate water bills for multiple years \u2014 and most of the more than 600 affected customers had no idea why their bills were so high. (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)Q: Were any of the wrong water meters installed at apartment buildings, or was it only at homes?<\/p>\n

A: KPRC 2 Investigates saw at least one small apartment complex on the list of addresses that received the wrong meters.<\/p>\n

However, the team has not checked every address on the list.<\/p>\n

If you want to confirm whether your property is included, look for your address here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Q: \u201cImagine the ones who paid for plumbing inspections just to not find anything. The city should reimburse them for that too.\u201d Will Houston reimburse customers who hired plumbers because of these high bills?<\/p>\n

A: It\u2019s true that Houston water customer service representatives often tell customers with unusually high bills to check for leaks, including hiring a plumber to look for hidden leaks.<\/p>\n

We asked Director Randy Macchi if the city will reimburse this group of 637 customers if they hired a plumber to look for a leak that we now know didn\u2019t exist. Macchi said he will talk with the city\u2019s legal department about the claims process for options and guidance on that one. We will follow up and let you know what they say.<\/p>\n

Will more addresses be added to the list?<\/p>\n

Another viewer wrote, \u201cHow can they be sure this list contains all of the wrongly installed meters? It probably doesn\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n

Macchi said the water department is not aware of others, but this issue has been added to their list of things to check for when they investigate meter issues.<\/p>\n

Houston Public Works accidentally installed the wrong meters at hundreds of homes. The faulty equipment led to inaccurate water bills for multiple years \u2014 and most of the more than 600 affected customers had no idea why their bills were so high. (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)What we know so far about Houston\u2019s wrong-meter problem<\/p>\n

Houston Public Works has said it accidentally installed the wrong meter equipment at\u00a0hundreds of addresses\u00a0during a 2024 meter replacement push.<\/p>\n

City emails obtained by KPRC through a public records request indicate the city discovered the problem in\u00a0January 2026\u00a0and crews replaced meters in\u00a0March 2026.<\/p>\n

The city has said it is calculating overpayments by comparing\u00a0typical usage\u00a0before installation with what the faulty equipment recorded, then applying\u00a0credits\u00a0for the difference.<\/p>\n

Important note for customers<\/p>\n

In the investigation, Macchi warned that if a customer closes a water account, it can become difficult for the city to apply a credit. If you believe you may be affected, consider resolving any overpayment issues before closing an account.<\/p>\n

How to check if your address is on the wrong-meter list<\/p>\n

KPRC 2 Investigates published an interactive list\/map of addresses<\/a> tied to the meter mix-up. <\/p>\n

How to check if the wrong water meter was installed at your home<\/p>\n

The KPRC 2 Investigates team made an interactive map featuring all 637 addresses with the wrong equipment.<\/p>\n

If your address is listed and you have not received notice from the city, contact Houston\u2019s water department.<\/p>\n

\u2018DRAINED\u2019 Houston water department Investigation<\/p>\n

Led by KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis, our investigation spent years shedding light on overbilling<\/a>, faulty water meters<\/a>, and mismanagement of city contracts<\/a>. These discoveries led to the arrest and charges for seven people and an overhaul of how the entire water billing system works.<\/p>\n

If you have questions, you can email Amy Davis at ADavis@kprc.com<\/a> or Producer Andrea Slaydon at ASlaydon@kprc.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SEE MORE: Everything you need to know about the \u2018DRAINED\u2019 KPRC Investigation <\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are answering your questions about the KPRC 2 Investigation on Houston Public Works installing the wrong water…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56536,94707,56,58,57,5778,36805],"class_list":["post-284107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-drained","tag-enough","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-investigates","tag-water-bill"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}